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ETHER, 
THE ALL INSPIRING. 



A STUDY 



AND 



A RECONCILEMENT. 



By WALLACE A. BARTLETT. 



Press of Gibson Brothers 

Washington, D. C. 

1907 



1107 



FUBHAHY * CONGRESS 

Two G«>'Jie« ftsceived 

NOV d i90f 

Cenynjrht Entry 

Sir z° '? 6 ? 

CU&S 4 XXc, NO, 

f37?$7 

COPY D. 



Copyright, 1 907 

by 

WALLACE A. BARTLETT 

Brentwood, Md. 



Since first the record of mankind began 
"What lies beyond" has been the quest of man. 
"And still beyond," the endless problem runs, 
Leading from earth far past remotest suns. 
Oh man, why urge thy jaded thought to roam? 
Thy greatest, highest problem lies at home. 
In thy small sphere do but thy living best, 
And let the power beyond direct the rest. 



BEFORE CREATION. 



ETHER SPEAKS. 

I am the ambient, all pervading Ether. 
From Infinite to Infinite are my extensions. 
I had no beginning, and I have no end. 
Space to me is naught. Finite things 
5 Are yet to be. I am the Infinite. 
I am alone. 

Length, breadth and depth to me are not. 
Beyond all terms of measurement am I. 
Thought, the quickest, farthest traveler, 
1 Can never reach my boundaries. I am 
The source of thought. 

Changeless am I, yet author of all change. 

Moveless, yet in myself, never at rest. 

My soul lives in vibration. A million ways 



] 5 Within myself, I do pulsate in waves, 
Rhythmic and ceaseless. 
I am alone. There is no time, no space. 
Nothing exists, save that I hold 
Within myself. 

20 Within myself will I create an universe. 

Centers will I form, which shall have substance, 
And shall be of mine own self composed. 
Such as I will, of these, my creatures, 
Shall be held within their spheres by law. 

25 The law of gravitation is my will. 

All things of substance which I shall create 
Shall bow unto this law. Ether alone, 
Being ethereal, shall not know this law, 
Nor shall be bound by it. 

30 Yet as I will form substance from myself, 
Denying to this substance for a time 
The freedom of my vibrant and ethereal life, 
I shall endow this matter with the germ 
Of change. Within its own confines, 

35 This matter, having weight, shall onward progress 
In myriad cycles, and through endless forms, 
Until it cometh back to me, and is again 
Part of my soul, and is at one with Ether. 



AFTER CREATION. 



SUN SPEAKS. 



I am the shining orb that thrills through space. 
I greet my brother suns, which lie beyond 
The range of vision, with ray on ray 
Of glorious light. I flash to them 
5 And they return to me, signal for signal. 

I glory in my brightness, as do they. 
Like the strong notes of a celestial song, 
We punctuate the realms of infinite space, 
Marking the tones of music, most divine. 

10 To my small swarm of worlds around me, 
I am the center, and the source of joy. 
Circling about me, they look to me 
For all that lends a brightness to their being. 
I smile upon them, and they bloom with flowers. 

15 I veil my face, and they are dark and sad; 
But not for long, for well they know 4 

7 



Brightness like mine not long may be concealed. 
I revel in my glory, and flash forth 
My all embracing rays of heat and light 
20 Which are the source of life to all within 
The wide extension of my radiance. 

I triumph in my greatness. Within myself 

Are all the finite elements, which do compose 

The substance of creation, intermingled, fused, 
25 And leaping with gladness. I send forth 

As messengers of joy to all, my radiant waves. 

Within the vast extension of my radiant power 

My waves of light, ever diffusing, 

Reach into space beyond the realms of knowledge 
30 Bearing rich gifts of brightness and of warmth 

To all things, dead or living. 



ETHER TO SUN. 

Oh child of mine, be not too proud. 

Know thou art within the reach 

Of my all comprehending presence. Thou art to 

me 
But as an atom of thy substance is 
5 To the entirety of thy composition. 
Thou art a dot in the great sky 
Which I have spread about thee. 
Other suns there be, in countless number, 
Scattered beyond the reach of all thy rays, 
10 And each thine equal or of greater power; 
And all are but as grains or atoms 
To the great infinite, which am I. 

Thy brightness well becomes thee, for it is of me. 
Without me, thou wert not. Without my vibrant 
power, 
1 5 Thy rays would fall inert, and never be. 
Thou art a little center of mine energy. 
I have made thee, and have thrown around 
Thee and thy brother suns, my fixed law 

9 



Of gravitation, which thou must obey. 
20 For my first law is order, and all laws 
Are made for order, and my laws 
Are changeless and immutable. 



EARTH SPEAKS. 

I swing about my glorious shining sun 
Who is my father, and my burning lover, 
And in his light I bask. I turn to him, 
In ceaseless revolution, all my surface, 
5 Warming and lighting all. With each round 
I make obeisance, turning first one pole, 
And then the other, toward my lover's face, 
That he may shine upon me everywhere, 
And note my loveliness. 

10 With each swing about the throne of my loved sun, 
I bloom for him, and burst forth, 
From zone to zone, in blossom and in flower, 
Unto the full perfection of my final fruitage. 
Thus offer I to him complete and constant tribute, 

1 5 Of all the best that makes my loveliness. 

Shrub, and flower, and tree, draw from my breast 
All sustenance, save the enlivening rays, 
Which this dear sun pours ceaselessly upon me. 
As his rays are free to me, so freely give I back to 
him 

II 



20 The rarest of my blossoms. 

Would I might do more to show yon brilliant orb 
My love and gratitude. He beams on me 
Undimmed and lustrous, everywhere the same. 
Yet in my wanton loveliness, I draw about me 

25 Shadows and clouds, to veil at times the smile 
Which otherwise might to him appear 
Too quick response to his embracing ardor. 
Anon I brush away my veil of cloud, 
And laughing, view his ever radiant face. 

30 At times I shroud my breast with cloak of snow, 
To hide the warmth within, I feel for him. 
Then in my wayward waltz I melt it down, 
And turn my fruitful bosom to his rays, 
Reveling in the glad fullness he bestows, 

35 And joyously I show to him 

The new-born fruitage of our mutual love 
Toward all which lives upon me. 

Oh bright sun, thou art 
My father and my lover. My sweetness all 
40 I yield to thee, for thou dost cause it all 
To bloom for thee and me. 

If beyond thyself there be a higher, greater power, 
I wish to know it not, for thou to me 
Art all in all sufficient. 

12 



ETHER TO EARTH. 

Fair daughter of the sun, I do withold from thee 
All knowledge of thy birth. Thou to my sun 
Hast given thy love, thy all embracing love, 
So that thy very soul is wrapped in him. 
5 Thy love and loyalty to him are grateful to me. 
Thine eyes I shall not open, to behold 
The power that lies beyond the sun, 
The initial, all controlling power 
Which doth exist in Ether. 

10 Because I do approve thy love for him, my shining 
sun, 
I give to thee great gifts. Upon thy breast 
Thou yet shall nourish beings higher far 
Than thy loved sun. Thy sun is finite, 
Save as he shall through such as thee progress. 

1 5 Thou art finite also. 

Yet from thy bosom forth shall spring 
In orderly development, as I have decreed, 
Souls which are infinite, because they shall be 
Of my own nature, eternal and supreme. 

13 



20 These I shall endow with power to draw from me 
All knowledge, and all goodness. 
For thy happiness, thou shalt not know 
That which is destined for thy offspring, 
To thee I give sweet ignorance. 

25 Thou shalt turn and reel, 

In innocent and joyousness wantonness, 
About thy sun; while on thy breast I rear 
My soulful children, destined to return 
And dwell in me forever. 



14 



ADAM SPEAKS. 

Not like these am I. True it is 

These others do have limbs like mine. 

Their features like my own do seem. 

Their needs the same, for food, 
5 For moisture, and for air they breathe. 

They answer to each other call for call, 

And to my calls respond. But when I, 

Wishing to know, inquire, "Whence came ye?" 

With stupid look, or with an angry snarl, 
10 They turn away. When I would know 

"Whither do ye go?" They point to nearest glen, 

Or cairn, or cave, or crotch of mammoth tree. 

"And thence, where go ye?" Then are they 
confused, 

And answer not. No thought have they 
1 5 Beyond the bare needs of the present hour. 

They have no past, no future. 

Other beasts there be, some more, 

Some less in size and power; 

Some active, and some sluggish. None 
20 So much resemble me, as these my mates 

15 



In form and feature. But all alike, 
Crouch when I come, and sometimes fawn, 
And sometimes flee in fear, 
Because I am unlike them. 

25 Whence came I? Some power outside myself 

Has placed me here, of purpose 

I would know. I did not make myself. 

Who made me, and for what? 

Within myself I feel the impulse swell 
30 To do great deeds. These tangled wilds 

Of thorn, and vine, and trunk, together twisted, 

I will reduce to system. Order there shall be. 

Not interlaced, but all in serried rows, 

Each species by itself shall be arranged. 
35 The stars I see at night, 

Arranged in endless patterns, all in order are. 

They do not twine and tangle. Who made them? 

Who placed them in the Armament? 

Orion with his belt, Ursa in lines, 
40 Forming a dipper. Some power there is 

Which made them and arranged them. 

I cannot such create. Even the small 

And humble violet I cannot make, although 

I can destroy such weeds by thousands, 
45 Selecting those I choose, to form 

16 



Patterns and pictures, like the stars 
In their arrangement. 

Yet would I know whereof I am, and why. 
Within myself I feel the stern demand, 
50 The avid thirst for knowledge. Until I know 
I cannot rest. And with each gathering thought 
Grows the demand for more, for greater knowledge. 

This thought is printed on my soul, and will not 

fade, 
That knowing all, I can command all things. 



17 



ETHER TO ADAM. 

Truly art thou not like these. Such as they 
Are soulless, and mere substance. In their turn 
They may progress, and passing through 
Cycles of changes, souls be given them. 

5 Thou art already of my soul. 

Through countless spirals have the shining spheres, 

(Which thou dost call the suns, or glimmering stars), 

For untold ages made their ceaseless turns, 

Leaving them soulless. 
10 Upon them have grown up strange creatures. 

Some that crawl, and delve in darkness. 

Some that swim within the liquid element, 

That nourishes all life upon the earth. 

Some that fly, mounting the air, which all thy 
world 
1 5 Incloses, giving breath to living things. 

Some do walk the earth like thee. 

To each one, reptile or fish, bird, beast, or moving 
thing, 

I gave his sphere of life, his powers, 

19 



His pleasures and his limitations. 
20 To thee alone it has been given that thou mayst 
have 

A living soul. Thou hast within thyself 

A cion from the soul of Ether. 

To this thy soul there are no limits. 

Thy soul is capable of all things, all thoughts, 
25 All suffering, and all development. 

Follow the longings of thy soul, 

And thou shalt leave the earth, 

And at thy last shalt reach me, know me, 

And knowing me know all which does exist. 

30 With thy weak earthly senses, thou canst see 

Some samples of my greatness. The small earth, 
Thy present habitation, holds untold lessons, 
Which thou art yet to learn — thou and thy 

children. 
Thou seest the inert mass, the rocks, the hills, 

35 The plains, and each of these has power, 
Within itself, implanted there by me, 
To be to thee and all humanity like thee, 
A blessing or a curse. It is for thee, 
To study for thyself the way of life, 

40 And bring this inorganic matter back to life, 
And so to me again. 

20 



Thou canst grasp the growing grain, 
The fruit, the flower, and from all vegetation, 
Learn the course of life. The small seed, 
45 The fructifying germ, the sprout, the stalk, 
The leaf, the fruit, and then the quick decay, 
All vegetation coming back to nature. 

Thou canst see the soulless beasts, 
All having finite bodies like thyself. 

50 All growing toward the soul thou hast, 
And they have not. Each of these 
Will furnish for thyself, and for thy children 
Studies to fill their little span of life 
Upon the earth. But such as these 

55 Cannot reach out, as thou canst, 

With instant thought, to the vast depths 
Of farthest star, which is a sun like thine, 
And in a breath return to closet contact, 
With that which does surround thee. 

60 Thy vibrant soul, unlike all earthly things, 
Is without limit. Thy soul is not of earth, 
But is a part of me I gave not to the earth. 

Thine earth is to thy soul, a little moving car 
Bearing thee through my presence, and passing me 
65 Through thee. With every pulse beat, 

21 



Thou dost move league on league through me. 

I am everywhere, and in myself, I am all things, 

All thoughts, all sentiments, all knowledge. 

In the briefest instant of that thou callest time, 
70 I vibrate in millions on millions of endless waves, 

And yet am moveless. As thou mo vest 

On thy circling sphere, within my substance, 

I permeate thy body, and thy soul; 

Like those mysterious waves, known to thy children 
75 And still unnamed by them. 

All that I am, is freely at thy service. 
Would'st thou have goodness? All that's good 
Is of the soul of Ether; Ether waves. Desire 
And thou shalt have. Wisdom? 
80 Study me, and thou shalt be all wise 

So thou dost still pursue the path of wisdom. 
Ask what thou wilt, and I can give it thee, 
In boundless measure, as thou dost cycle through 
me. 



22 



CHRISTUS TO ETHER. 

Oh power above, I do look up to thee. 
I know not whence I came, nor where I go, 
But that I have been taught, I feel is true. 
There is a power beyond myself, embracing me, 
5 Which I may lean upon; a heavenly power, 
Which some call God, and some call Fate, 
But which I do call Father. All I see 
Of earthly things, or in the heavens above, 
Must come from thee, as I myself have come, 
1 But by what path I know not. 

All about me I behold mankind, 

Sinning and suffering. Pain is the rule 

And happiness the rarity. Can this be just? 

Is this by the command of a just ruler? 

15 Turn thy face to me, oh, Father; Speak to me 

direct. 

Let me but know thy will, that I may do 

Unto my fellow man, that which is just. 

Help me to lift him up, to ease his load of woe, 

And point the way to happiness for him. For it 

must be 

23 



20 Because thou hast created us, that thou dost love us. 

That which we do create, the same we love. 

My earthly father loveth me. Even the dumb 
things 

Made by my handiwork, those things I love. 

All things which are, surely thou hast created. 
25 Therefore thou lovest them, and most of all 

Thou dost love man, made in thine image. 

Tell me, Father, how I best may do thy will 

Upon my fellow man, to lead him back to thee 

From whom he is astray. 



24 



ETHER TO CHRISTUS. 

Thou art, of all the myriads born on earth, 
Thy planet, the first to have within thyself, 
The soul of Ether, undefiled, and free from dross. 
Born of the poor, thou hast escaped 
5 The blight of wealth. Born of the just, 
Thy youth has seen injustice, and thy heart 
Turned from it, first in pity, then in protest. 
Born of the good, thy youth escaped the snare 
Spread in the sight of men, the love of woman. 
10 Not that such love need lead thy soul astray, 
But that, unbalanced for awhile, thy mind, 
Wrestling with problems of the dual life, 
Had turned not to me with the serene and lofty 

poise 
Of the untempted. 

1 5 Thy mission is to teach. Thou, first of men, 
Can see and know the right, unfailingly. 
All knowledge thou shalt give to men, 
Followed by them, shall lead them true 
And by the shortest path, in the one way , 

25 



20 To reach the soul of Ether. 

Who shall accept thy teachings, needs no more. 

His soul shall be developed from the germ, 

The seed, that lives in all of human form. 

Unto such great fulfillment such shall pass, 
25 In worthy fullness, to the realms 

Of endless glory found in my embrace. 

Thy mission is to suffer. Thou to men 

Shall be the great example of compassion. 

They who should lift thee up shall cast thee down- 
30 They who should honor shall depise thee. 

Thine earthly body they shall put to scorn 

And rend asunder. This is of little moment. 

Thou hast laid hold on that great principle 

Of endless right, which like thy soul 
35 Shall shine forever as a beacon light 

Throughout the ages. Thine earthly life, 

Is but a breath of time. Thine age with me 

Is adequate and infinite. 

And yet the deepest wounds that thou shalt feel, 
40 Shall be from some who worship in thy name. 
These shall ascribe to thee (long after thou art come 
Back to the soul of Ether) forces and powers, 
Which, if thou hadst them, thou wert a monster 
Hadst thou not used them for thy fellow men. 

26 



45 He who accepts thy word as thou dost give it 
Need seek no further. He who shall add 
To thy pure teachings aught of earthly taint, 
To magnify himself, or to build up 
A synod or a creed, to weight the soul of men, 

50 He shall be twice condemned, in that 
He vilifies both thee and me. 



27 



HOMO TO ETHER. 

I hear thee as the murmur of the breeze 
Passing in darkness, claiming me 
As of thyself. If thou art my Father 
As thou dost declare, and if thou art pure, 
5 And hast in me the consummation of thy work, 
Whence came these impure thoughts? 
These bestial appetites, which even of my poor 

mind, 
I know to be ungodly and degrading. 

If thou art pure, and be my soul's Creator, 

1 Why didst thou make my soul 

Unlike thyself? If from my mother earth 
I have imbibed abomination, why didst not thou 
With thine almighty power, extending from 
Infinity to zero, cleanse my mother earth 

1 5 From all that draws me down, 

Before thou mad'st of her my mother? 

At times my soul is full of high desire, 

As from thy breathings, I opine thou will'st 

29 



It should be so. Again at times, 
20 I loathe all that is noble, and would mate me with 
All that is most repulsive, low and gross. 
Help me to know thee, and to know the truth. 



33 



ETHER TO HOMO. 

I have placed thee and thy kind on thy little sphere, 
And given thee power to draw from me, 
During the brief span which is mortal life, 
That all may fit them for larger life. 
5 Wouldst thou know me, study my manifestations. 

The plant thou dost admire, springs from a germ, 

And if nurtured by those elements its nature calls for, 

Waxes to size and beauty, gives off its flower, 

Its fragrance, or its fruit, then falls 
10 Again to earth. Poorly nurtured 

It is of little worth, and fades away. 

If overfed by such nutrition as its case requires, 

O'ergrown and cumbersome, and sometimes 
noxious, 

It is of lesser worth. 
1 5 Thou, son of my soul, hast all which does exist 

At thy command. Thy mind is but a germ. 

Thou mayst absorb from me, whatever thou dost 
will, 

For I am all in all, and that which thou desirest 

31 



Is in thy power to segregate from me, 
20 Even as thou movest on thy circling car, 
Throughout my substance. 

In my ethereal form, of all that is, 
I only am above the law of gravitation. 
Thy thought cannot be held by chains, 
25 Weighed in the balance, or bound by space. 
Thy thought is but the connecting link, 
Binding thy soul with mine. 
Thy thought is my vibration in thy soul. 

Take not pride to thyself in that thou hast a soul. 
30 Search thy secret thoughts and learn 

If indeed thy soul exists beyond a germ. I gave 

to thee 
The seed, not the fruition. Thine the task 
To bring thy soul to fullness. Thou canst draw 

from me 
All that may tend to thy soul's greatness. 
35 I am all around thee, and within thee. 
All thou wouldst have of me, take freely, 
Even until thou art like me, all purity. 
Thou need'st not beg of me on bended knee, but 

in thy heart, 
If thou dost wish sincerely for those attributes, 

32 



40 Which being absorbed, shall make thee like my- 
self, 
The same shall come to thee. 

Thy soul is but an atom, in the universe 
Of the eternal, all pervading soul of Ether. 
Make of thy soul a pure and crystal drop, 

45 So, when thou dost lay off the mortal clay 

Which now dost bind thee down, thou mayst enter 

At once into the ocean of the infinite, 

Pure and liquescent, all prepared 

To coalesce and crystallize into the one, 

50 The Great and Changeless, Ever Living Ether. 

But if thou shalt weight down thy soul 

With selfishness, with greed, with stupid, carnal 

things, 
Then shall its germ lie dormant, and be lost, 
So far as this, thine earthly journey is concerned. 

55 And if my just accounting shall in judgment 
Find the germ I gave thee to be ill developed, 
I may turn thee back, in this or other spheres, 
That thou mayst start again thy upward course, 
From that low plane, which thou dost call 

60 That of mere matter, through all the steps 

Which in the past have led thee to the heights 
Thou now dost occupy. 

33 



Willingly I will not cut thee off. I yearn for thee, 
Even as the oxygen craves to unite 
65 With all the elements with which it may combine. 
So does the pure Ether yearn to join, 
And to unite into its own pure self, 
All souls which have been qualified. 

Other ways to purity thou mayst find, but one, 
70 The one so plain thou canst not err therein, 
Is by the path of human kindness. 

Learn this, that but for circumstance, 
The least of human kind had been thy equal. 
Love then, thy neighbor as thyself. Take to thy 
breast 
75 The children of thy neighbor. Lift them up, 
And in so doing thou shalt find 
Thy soul will rise to planes of purity, 
And power, and godlikeness, 
Of which thou hast not known, even in dreams 

80 All things which be, upon the earth, are made 
in dual kinds 
The factors'tending to unite, and form 
Other and higher types. With their develop- 
ment, 

34 



The power to differentiate is given. 
Acid and alkali; pistil and stamen; 
85 Male and female beasts; woman and man 4 , 
These are but forms of the vast range 
Of my transforming and progressing agents. 

Know, oh man, thou hast drawn from thy mother 

earth, 
More fully than thy woman consort, the earthly 
elements, 
90 Which weigh thee down, and retard 

Thy soul's progression upward toward myself. 
Thou art more of earth; woman more of Ether; 
Yet thy strength and bulk may carry thee 
Along the road of progress, to a higher plane 
95 Than she may reach, so thou dost bend 

Thine utmost energies of soul and body both, 
To help thine onward way. She, thine help- 
mate, 
Upheld by thee to be her noblest self, 
Will take delight to aid thee in thy great 
1 00 And high endeavor, nor have thought, 

Whether thy progress, aided by her sacrifice, 
Doth most redound to good for her, or thee. 

Son of my soul, thy higher thoughts are mine. 
35 



These are but undulations of myself in thee. 
105 Like the clear crystal of the diamond, I would 
have them 

Pure as I am; viewless, separate from all 

That would obscure. That which is of grosser 
kind 

In thy development, is of thy mother, earth. 

The earth so near to thee, yet so obscure; 
110 So prone to mix the evil with the good, 

Or be all evil. 

Yet is it true thy mother, earth, 

Is still of me. All that is dross 

And foreign to my finer life, I did divest me of 
1 1 5 And carry to the structure of the suns and worlds, 

When I resolved Creation. I am pure. 

I would have thy soul return to me, 

Pure as I am. I would have thee 

A source of strength and power and help to me. 
120 I would have thee as myself, and part of me. 

Care for thy body, as the husbandman 

Cares for the soil he tills, on which he raises 

That which is his sustenance, and nurtures life. 

Thy body is the soil, in which thy soul may 

grow 

36 



125 Until it reaches full development. 

Toil with thy hands as with thy brain, 
For only in the exercise of all thy faculties 
Canst thou find full and rich development. 
Thou mayst wisely gather some small store 

130 Of earthly things, to meet thine earthly needs, 
But with each grain thou gatherest, beyond that 

which 
Thy earthly needs require (thou and thy wife, 
Thy sons and daughters), thou dost weight down 

thy soul 
And may retard it, or may even prevent 

]35 Its flight to realms invisible, where it shall find 
All that it craves for highest happiness. 

Thou hast seen the ocean, sun kissed, 

Touched by the breeze of morning, dance in 

wavelets, 
Beaming with brightness. 

1 40 Thou hast seen the angry billows, storm driven, 
Break sternly on the rocks, crushing all fragile 

things 
Beneath their weight. The ocean waves 
Are slow and lagging, when contrasted 
With the quick tremor of the air thou breathest, 

145 Seen shimmering over desert sands, 

37 



Or by a blazing furrnace, visible to thee only 
By reason of impurities. 

As the billows to the air, so may be air to Ether. 
I am the Ether. My mind is of myself, 
1 50 Instant and boundless. 



38 



HOMO. 
Art thou, then, God? 

ETHER TO HOMO. 

What matters it to thee, if I be that 
Thou callest God, or if I be His means 
For working out His will? This thou knowest, 
That I am all embracing, all pervading. 
5 Even as the air thou breathest, 

Enters all space unoccupied, fills all interstices, 
And leaves no vacancy in its small sphere, 
About thy little earth, so I, the subtle Ether 
(Being to air as air to firmest solid), 

1 I do surround, and fill, and form to all that is 

A constant, ever present, all containing atmosphere. 
All things which are, are of me, but in some 
My form is changed, so thy dull senses 
May grasp them, and by inquiry 

] 5 Into their nature and their object, 
Thou mayst reach out to me. 
I am all things; and all that is not substance 

39 



Is still of me. All thoughts within thy mind 

Are my vibrations. Light and heat, 
20 And all the rays mysterious, which thou dost call 

Electric, magnetic, mystic, and for want of name, 

Thou leavest nameless, all of these 

Are of my endless attributes but a meagre few. 

Only to thee, and such as thou art, have I given 
25 The power to institute ethereal waves 

Which touch the normal being. 

Son, grovel not. Look not to me, 
As to some barbaric king, who would exalt 
Himself by thine abasement. Neither come 
30 To me, demanding aught, because of thy deserts, 
But fearless come, even as thou wouldst have 
Thy children come to thee, asking modestly 
According to their needs or wishes, but deferring, 
As they should, to thy greater wisdom. 

35 Thou art a part of me. Forget it not. 
When thou dost debase thyself, thou dost 
Defile my noblest handiwork. When thou, 
Remembering what thou art, dost call on me, 
With confidence and trust, for that which will 

40 Upbuild thee for thy good, thou surely shalt 
Receive it. For I am all about thee, 
And within thee, and I am all in all. 

40 . 



If thou wouldst know me, study me 

In all that round thee does exist, 
45 From me created. There is nothing so small, 

No grain of sand, no atom which exists, 

That from it thou mayst not learn 

Lessons of truth and wisdom. 

There is no thing so great, from earth to sun, 
50 And thence to farthest star, thou mayst not grasp 

And know for what it is, if with thy soul, 

(Which soul is of my soul, and knit to me), 

Thou dost reach out to it, calling on me 

For my potential aid. 

55 I am within thee, and am all about thee. 
All strength, all wisdom, and all thought 
Are due to my vibrations. Bring thy desire 
To rhythm with that which doth in me exist, 
And thy desire is granted, be it small or great 

60 Even as I strengthen thee, so shalt thou 

In thy progression, bring back strength to me. 
If thou dost purely live thy life on earth. 
Even as the drop of dew, warmed by the sun, 
Changing to mist, becomes the raindrop, 

65 Falls to the earth, enriching where it falls, 
Thence passes to the rill, the rivulet and river, 

41 



And so goes back to ocean whence it sprang, 
Lifting by its little mite the rolling waves; 
So shall thy soul, grown pure and strong 

70 (If thou wilt have it so), come back to me, 
To vivify the soul of Ether. 
But shouldst thou grovel, and weigh down 
With earthly things, that which in thee 
Is of the soul of Ether, I shall send thee back, 

75 (Like the vile ooze, which may not flow 
Because of its absorbed contamination), 
Through change and change, until the pains 
And tortures of thy transformation, shall have 

driven 
From thy tired soul, all impure things, 

80 And I can take thee up to me again, 
A soul of crystal, pure and part of me, 
To be with me an endless integration. 

Thy little life on earth has taught thee this: 

Of all the forms of matter, which on earth, 
85 Do now exist, no single atom, 

No particle, no tittle ever so minute, 

Has from thy earth been lost. 

Changes have been, because my law is change. 

Note that which now is seed, is grain to-morrow, 
90 Soon it is flesh, then falls to earth, 

42 



As dust or as excreta, and goes on 
In ceaseless transformation, but is never lost. 
Shall then thy soul, tinged with ethereal life 
Be lost to me? Nay, I will bring thee true 
95 Through all the needed cycles, till thou art 
A part of that which I am, soul of my soul, 
And sum of all existing. 

Seest thou the tempered steel, flashing in brightness 
Even as a silvered mirror? Firm it is 

100 Far beyond granite. Stronger, far, 

Than other substance wrought by man. 

Not by resting in soft repose, were its fibers knit. 

To such consistency was it brought 

By sweltering in the heart of fiery forge 

105 Until it almost flowed asunder. Then by mighty 
blows 
'Twixt anvil and hammer, it was beaten, 
Bruised, doubled and compressed, and so again, 
And yet again, pressed, burned, and beaten, 
Until its various atoms, joined in union, 

1 1 Became of highest temper and efficiency. 

So if thou wouldst be strong, thou shalt have trial, 
And pang of woe, and depth of tribulation. 
Let this not break thee down, nor lower thee, 
In thy just pride of union with myself. 

43 



1 ] 5 Tis but a little time such things shall be. 

When thou com'st back to me, pure and refined, 
Thy soul shall be rejoiced, that thou wert found 
Worthy to be refined and tempered in the forge 
Of evolution. 

1 20 Think, son of my soul, what thou hadst been 
But for the thoughts thy fathers left to thee 
Embalmed in books. The treasures of their 

minds 
They gave to thee for thy eternal heritage. Thou 

art 
The heir of all the ages which have gone before. 

125 Think also of the priceless works they left to thee, 
In art, in song, and in the wondrous mechanisms, 
Which in thy daily life are the most common 

things. 
In laboring for themselves, these who have gone 

before, 
Wrought also for thy benefit. 'Tis but just 

1 30 Thou shouldst regard with reverence 
That which they left thee, without toil 
Or cost to thee. So shouldst thou, 
In doing for thyself and those around thee, 
Endeavor to build up, and not break down 

135 That which was left to thee. So shalt thou also 

44 



Add to the treasures which do pass 
From age to age, between the sons of men, 
And in the reverence of ages yet to come, 
Receive some compensation. Strive to add 

1 40 To the small sum of human knowledge, 
And thy name shall stand, even on earth 
With the immortals. And when thou 
With blessings of thy generation heaped upon 

thee, 
Dost doff the outer husk, and in thy vibrant soul 

] 45 Freed from the dross of earth, return to me, 
Thou shalt be pure as I am, and prepared 
To join the other souls which are in me 
Forever blest, commingled, and united. 

Climb to the mountain top and sit thee down. 

150 View with calm meditation, that which I have 
spread 
On the ripe bosom of thy mother earth; 
And all for thy free use. From thy lofty perch 
Thine eyes may gather in, at times benign, 
Some token of the blessings I have spread 

155 Upon the earth, for thee. Great hills command 
The lowly places. Thoughts of grandeur should 
Lilt up thy soul to lofty things. Quiet vales, 
Where all is calm and peaceful, show to thee 

45 



The granary I have spread for thy subsistence. 
] 60 Flowing streams, of waters living, throw back to 
thee 

Reflections of the sky, or clouds above, 

All for thy recreation. 

All that the earth produces is at thy command. 

If there be, in thy vicinage, aught which dost 
1 65 Thy higher sense repel, thou knowest well 

'Twas not the work of nature, but of man. 

Use thou thy influence, with thy brother man 
To do no thing which nature does abhor. 
Lift up thyself, and lift thy brother man 

1 70 To contemplate the works of nature all about, 
With reverent thought, and with receptive mind. 
Often with nature thus commune, and she 
Will lift thee up from finite things, until thy soul 
Is tuned in rhythm with me. Then shalt thou 
draw 

175 From me, the soul of all existence, that which 
shall 
Exalt thee to the plane of my omnipotence. 

If thou thy soul hast weighted down, 

With earthly dross; with love of power and place; 

Or with desire to blazon forth thy wealth 

46 



1 80 And flaunt it in the faces of the poor, 

It shall be deemed unworthy to unite with me. 
Being of earth, it shall return to earth, 
And pass again through all the transformations, 
Which in due course shall bring it up to me 

185 Refined and purified. 

It lies within thyself, after thou hast reached 
The years of reason and of understanding, 
Whether thou shalt such progress make, 
In this, thy earthly blossoming, 
1 90 That thy fruitage shall be worthy of my garnering, 
When thou art ripened. 

Thy soul I gladly would absorb into myself 
So it be worthy to become a part of me. 
Therefore take hope. I am at thy desire 
195 Until thine utmost moment. If thou wilt take me 
in, 
And make of me a part of thee, even at thy last 

hour, 
Thou shalt come back to me, restored and 

glorified. 
But if thou wilt not take me in, then thyself hast 

writ 
Thy sentence of rejection, and thou shalt return 

47 



200 Even to the base of that long ladder of progression, 
Which all must mount who do aspire to be 
A part of Ether, which is the Supreme. 

Even as thy soul is part of me, infinitesimal yet 

integral, 
So is the soul of woman, rightly claimed by thine, 
205 Bound up with thine own soul, and part thereof. 

The seed is not the harvest, but contains the germ 

From which the harvest springs. 

The mind of man, in its juvenescent state 

Is but the seed on which the soul maybe engrafted. 

210 If when thy soul begins development, thou dost 
To carnal things incline it, it shall become 
With carnal things encysted, and scarcely then 

may be 
Revivified and made pure. 
Thou hast the stronger soul, she the more refined. 

215 If thou dost drag the woman in the dust, 
Debase her better nature, pluck off 
The fragrant blossom of her soul's development, 
It shall be worse for thee. But if thou wilt, 
Remembering that the woman's soul is part of 
thine, 

220 With one true woman only tie thyself, 

43 



So ye twain be as one, with soul in common, 
Then shalt thou, in such union find the highest 

joys 
The earth can realize. The children born to 

thee, 
Of this most perfect union, shall comfort thee, 
225 Throughout thy days on earth. 

Why dost thou not reason, 

From what thou knowest, to that thou knowest 

not? 
Thou dost know, or easily can know 
Of thy surroundings. Take the air 
230 Which forms thy breath. All thou dost inhale 
For many hours, thou canst condense 
Into a body like a pin point. But removed 
From outward pressure, that same air 
May form a volume greater than the earth. 

235 This atmospheric air, which to thy blood 
Brings renovation (without which, 
Thy life would dwindle and die out, 
Even as the flickering candle), has to me, 
The Ether, but a wide 

240 And coarse analogy. I am infinite 

And immaterial. Tied to earth, the air 

49 



Conveys the sense of sound, and heat, and light, 

In waves of form and amplitude 

Such as I have ordained. Ether, 
245 The all embracing, all pervading, all directing 
cause, 

Has no restricting limit to its waves. 

Reason, thought, emotion, in its waves exist, 

And have their origin. Infinite as are 

The changes of the forms of thought 
250 Are the vibrations of the ambient Ether. 

Thy soul is of the Ether. Held not down 
By law of gravitation, it may move 
To far infinities, with speed of thought. 
Thy soul is bodiless. It hath not limits, 
255 Nor has it wings. It needs not eyes to see, 

Nor arms to grasp the Deity, and hold him fast. 
Thy soul is of thine own creation, save the germ 
Which I implanted in thee. When thy soul 

rejoins 
Eternal Ether, whence it first did spring, 
260 It first must be adapted to its grand career, 

Of building up and strengthening the vibrant 

waves 
Which are the soul of Ether. 

If in thy mortal life, thy soul has grown, 
50 



Through caring for thy brother's need; 

265 Through love for them who suffer; 

Through holy charity for those who sin; 
Through holding down thy low desires; 
Through living for thy fellows, not thyself; 
Then shall thy soul, thus tempered and enlarged, 

270 Find in myself a refuge. There the souls 

Which dwelt in earthly bodies, like thine own, 
Adapted like thy soul, to dwell in me, 
Shall all about thee group, and form 
Thy close environment. Souls loved by thee 

275 Shall be as thine own soul, in harmony 

With thee and me. Souls thou hast admired 
Grouped all about thee, shall familiar be, 
As are commingling light rays; mind with mind, 
Commingling and diffusing, shall go on, 

280 Ever in progress, ever reaching out, 

Having no boundaries to their right development. 

Of thy mortal years, how many dost thou think 
Could well be given to take in earthly knowledge? 
Much lore of earth is found in books. How long 
285 Must thy life be on earth, to read all books, 
Containing new ideas? What more years 
To read the story of the rocks? Then what more 
To study vegetation? Scarce can thy span 

51 



Of three-score years, enable thee to learn, 
290 The simplest habits of the simplest thing, 

Of living kind, which dwells upon the earth. 

Wouldst thou gain the knowledge 

Which does pervade the things thou callest 
animals, 

Thou then hadst need of half a hundred mortal 
lives. 
295 A thousandfold extension of thine earthly years, 

Would not suffice thee just to gather in 

The whole of knowledge of the changeful mind, 

Of tine of these, thy brethren or thy sisters. 

Marvel then, upon the wondrous periods, 
300 Thy deathless soul shall pass, in taking in 

The wondrous thoughts of all the deathless souls, 

From thy small planet earth. Then cast thy 
thought 

To other souls from other planets, numberless, 

To thy crude mortal reckoning. 

305 All these souls, each in rhythmatic tune 

With all the other souls from all the spheres, 
Each vibrant with its own celestial waves 
Are but a part of Ether. Come to me 
And be of these a part. 



52 



SCRIBE TO ETHER. 

It must be true. I know there must exist 
Outside of me, some power beneficent, 
Supreme and changeless, which doth control 
The Universe and all that doth exist. 

5 Good it must be, for all that man may know 
Of earthly things or heavenly, in the sun} is good. 
Human woes I see around me; pain, sorrow, death, 
And countless miseries. These to some appear 
The evidence that man is of his God accurst. 

1 Mistaken must be he who so believes. If God, 
Or Law, or the Great Ruling Power 
Which guides the planets in their ceaseless course; 
Which lifts the tides, and bids them flow and ebb; 
Which sends seedtime and harvest, each in season 
due; 

1 5 Which bids mankind to live, and o'er the earth 
To have dominion; if this Power 
(Whatever be its name) dealt curses to mankind, . 
The race of man had not begun; or once in being, 
It soon had perished from the earth, 

53 



20 Like the dinosaur, which having dwelt 
Upon this planet its allotted span of days, 
Ceased to exist, and left no living heir, 
But only traces in the rigid rocks. 

Man alone, upon the planet earth, 
25 Has grown to have control of earthly things. 

His woes and pains, traced to their source, 

Spring mostly from the sins which men commit, 

Or from man's follies. Trace the course 

Of human progress, since mankind 
30 A record kept, and that course has been upward. 

What man knows, the works he may perform, 

The scope of his endeavor, has grown and swollen, 

Until in pride he thinks himself almost divine. 

Had God, or the First Power, so willed, 
35 The race of man had ceased. As it has grown 

To dominate the earth, it must be God so willed. 

But did He will that one man o'er his fellow 

Should have the power to make or mar his life? 

Can a just God permit such things to be, 
40 That one man rolls in wealth; another starves? 

That one shall seize on power, and many cringe 

Under his lash or curses? 

Tell me, oh Power beyond myself, why such 

things be, 

54 



And where thou art, and what thy purpose is! 

45 If thou be ever present, ever ready, 
To inspire mankind with love for thee, 
And for each other, whence came these evil 

thoughts, 
Hatred and malice, envy and scorn? 
Whence the lust of gain, the love of power, 

50 The wild delight in lawless and illicit passion 
Sometimes called love? 

And if for more than half the time allotted here 
For man to do his work on earth, before his soul 
Required by thee to render its account 

55 For all the deeds his mortal body has performed 
Upon the earth, this man has been 
Indifferent or reckless, knowing not or caring not 
For others' rights or wrongs, 
Canst thou, at this late day, revive his soul? 

60 Canst bring it back to be in rhythm with thee? 
Suppose that I have deeply wronged 
My fellow man or woman. If those so wronged 
Have gone to join the dead, how can I now 
Make recompense to them or thee? 



55 



ETHER TO SCRIBE. 

Child of my thought, thou hast a dim and distant 

vision 
Of what I am, and of my purpose great, 
In placing thee in thy environment. 

Use thy perceptions, wouldst thou know me well. 
5 Thou dost perceive my first great law, 

That all things move in order. All are within, 
Surrounded by, and interwoven with myself, 
And I am Ether. Without my vibrant life 
The universe were dead. While Ether lives 
10 There is no death, but merely change of form. 

I have spread before thine eyes, on every hand, 
Examples of my work. The flowers bloom, 
Wither and fade. Yet thou dost know, 
Their fallen petals do enrich the earth, and make 
] 5 Foundation for another growth, mayhap of other 
kind, 
All kinds progressing upward. 

The beast thou feedest on, tends to thy nutriment; 
57 



Or failing this, his flesh, again transformed, 
Nurtures the earth, which thus enriched, 
20 Develops forms of life, all in progression. 

When these things change their form, they are not 

dead, 
But undergoing new development. 

When thou dost lie down in sleep, thou art as these 
Divested of thy reason, and no more than they, 

25 Art thou a conscious being. Unlike these 
Shrunk petals or decaying carcasses, 
Thou dost wake from sleep full minded, 
Conscious of that which went before, and armed 
With wisdom from thy past, for future toils. 

30 Remember always the distinction. Thou of me 
Art but a speck, as are these withered leaves. 
But thou also art a living being, having thought, 
Which reaches to the farthest bounds of space, 
Without restraint of time. 

35 Thou hast a mind, which rightly used by thee, 
Thou mayst build into a living soul, 
Which soul shall be of me a growing element. 
Thou canst add thy little atom to my power for 

good, 
If thou wilt fit thyself to thus advance my cause. 

58 



40 Even in thy sports, thou hast learned to know, 
How, by compounding, thou mayst increase thy 

power. 
Joined with a fellow, two become as three, 
And three as five, working in teams, together, 
Seeking a common end. 

45 Banded in numbers, drilled in unison, 

Fired with a common purpose, an armed host 

Is vastly stronger than its units are, 

Each unit being stronger for the blending. 

So mayst thou build thy soul to higher plane, 

50 By using it for others, and the souls 

Of all for whom thou dost unselfish good 
Are lifted also. Bring thy soul to me, 
At such time as it leaves the mortal shell, 
And if it be adapted for my purpose, it shall 
enter in 

55 And be a part of Ether, forming with those, 
Of like demeanor, who have gone before, 
A perfect union with the living life. 

Go to thine orchard. See the aged tree, 
Gnarled and worm eaten, due to thy neglect. 
60 Prune it and give it culture. Rend away 

59 



The rotted wood and broken boughs. Bind the 

wounds 
Which thus in kindness thou hast made. 
Feed the ground, about its roots, with rich and 

darkened soil. 
Wash away, as with strong alkali, 
65 The insects and their offspring which infest the 
bark. 
On this old relic, lavish now the care 
Which should have reached it in the passing 

years, 
Now gone forever. 

It may be that the day is past; but if in time, 
70 Before the vital strength too far has sped, 
Thou shalt receive from this old tree 
Such fruitage as thou hast not found 
From off thy choicest saplings; sweet and 

sound ; 
Mellow and juicy, and of flavor so extreme, 
75 Thyself shalt be astonished, and with wonder 
filled, 
That this old ruin should such fruit produce. 

So with thy soul. Sincerely come to me 
For that thou dost require, to build thee up, 
And make thee worthy of a place with me, 

60 



80 And though the time approach the hour 

When thou shalt be cut down and be no more 
A living being on the earth, still shalt thou be 

in time 
To bring thy soul to rhythm with my vibrations, 
Thus making it a crystallizing part of Ether. 

85 If thou dost hedge thy soul about 

With pride of race, with lust of power, 

With greed of earthly gain, or if thou dost 

Debase thy manhood and degrade 

One of the other sex; and pull her down 
90 To pass her life in wantonness, throwing a blight 

Both on herself and those she lures into her toils; 

Or if thou dost forget that every child 

Born of a woman, is to thee 

An equal in the right to swell the innate germ 
95 Ethereal, which the soul may form; 

If thou dost fail to fit thy soul, 

By loving contact with the souls about thee, 

To be at union with the souls divine, 

And gathered to the soul of Ether, 
1 00 How canst thou hope to be received by me 

Into such union? 

Thy future life lies all within thyself. 
61 



I give to thee, each moment of thy life on earth, 

Free access to the life divine 
105 Which everywhere pervades me. 

I am about thee, and within thee. 

I am every good; every evil is by me 

Controlled and ostracized, in mine own time. 

If thou wilt have of good, desire it truly 
1 1 And it will come to thee. And of all good 

The greatest good is love. 

So thou dost love thy fellow man, 

Thou canst not do to him a wrong. 

Let thy love for him be as thy love of self, 

I ] 5 And every day thou shalt increase thy soul, 
And fit it for the union of all souls, 
Each with the other, and all souls with me, 
In everlasting progress. But if self alone, 
Or in great measure, doth absorb thy mind, 

1 20 Thy soul shall dwindle, and as chaff, 

Shall be turned back to matter, only to rise 
Through all the forms of matter, till again, 
It reaches human form, and holds the germ 
From which all souls do grow. 

1 25 Thy little grain of knowledge, science called, 
Has taught thee that there does exist in space 

62 



Strange forces, far beyond thy feeble comprehen- 
sion. 
Mystic waves, which passing through thy flesh, 
As light through glass, carry with them 

1 30 Faint images of thine inner organs. 

Other waves, attuned by cumbersome machines, 
Carry thy words to distances which seem 
To thy dull senses, vast. Others again 
Which to minds in rhythmic concord each with 
each, 

135 Carry the wordless thought. All these powers, 
Coming from me, are but the feeble shadows 
Of that thou dost not know as yet. 

Ether is vibrant in a million ways. 

Whatever in thy soul thou dost aspire to, 
1 40 The aspiration is of Ether born, and as I live 

I can and will develop noble thoughts 

In beings such as thou art. 

Wilt thou have strength? Imbibe from Ether. 

Wishest thou for goodness? I am ever with thee, 
145 Pressing upon thee moving waves of goodness. 

Wilt thou have knowledge? I have placed 

The books of wisdom all about thee, 

In the works of nature, in the lore 

Of those who have preceded thee, 

63 



1 50 And in thy soul's best aspirations. 

If thou wilt love thy fellow man, all the good 
That he has gained, or might have gained from 

Ether, 
Shall be added unto thee, and much increased. 

Love is unselfish. Love giveth much, 

155 And taketh not. Yet I say to thee 

All that thou givest to another in pure love, 
I will restore to thee an hundred fold, 
And thereby build thy soul to further love 
Until it cometh back to me, a soul 

] 60 With mine own soul in unison. 
Then shall thy spirit dwell 
In loving concord with the noble souls 
Of those who have preceded thee, 
All joined in purpose, like the elements 

] 65 Which make the air thou breathest. 

So thou dost now to these, thy fellow men 
That which thy soul doth tell thee is their due; 
So thou dost all thyself and all thy wilfulness 
Forget, and to thy fellow man, 
1 70 In kindness and in love, render to him, 

All that he most doth need; thy sympathy, 
Thy counsel and advice; forgetting self: 

64 



If thou shalt give to him who needs it most, 

Thy undivided love, thou shalt make up 
1 75 For all thy wasted years. Thou shalt bring 

Thy soul into rhythmatic chord 

With human souls passed on before, and with 
the soul 

Of Ether, which inspires all human souls, 

And thou shalt join thy soul with the great 
180 And purified souls of those who have preceded 
thee, 

Merging into Ether all the powers of good* 

Consider thy reward, if thou shalt give 
Thy labors to thy fellow man, and so 
By actions pure, fit thyself to join 
185 With those who long before thee did the same. 

Thou hast read of the Christus, He who gave 
All that He had to win His fellow man 
To righteous action. Suffered He 
Upon the cross, not for His crimes, 
190 But for His goodness. 

Thou hast seen, upon the earth, in thine own time, 

One who forgetting self, endured much scorn 

From those who knew him not. Who meekly 

ruled 

65 



The people who had chosen him to be their 
ruler. 
195 Who gazed upon a sea of blood, and felt 

Within his soul, the dying pangs of those who fell 
Upon a thousand fields of war, vanquished 
Or victor; who was slain at the very hour 
When most it seemed his worth was needed. 

200 Thou hast had loved ones, whom it seemed 

Were woven into the very heart and soul of thee. 
Some there were, whom after years have passed 
The very mention of their names doth bring 
Into thy mortal eyes, unbidden moisture. 

205 Think ye not it will be joy indeed 

For thy delivered soul, to meet with these 
Admired and loved by thee? To join with them 
In one rhythmatic concord, being at one with them 
And blend thy thoughts with theirs, in uniform 
vibration? 

2 1 The wisdom these have had has been increased 
And is increasing ever. Thou to them 
Shalt join thy soul, in blessed union. 
Words no more, between such souls 
Shall thoughts convey. Between such souls 

66 



215 The wish brings the fulfilment; knit and joined 

The one unto the other, like the drops 

Of water in the ocean, so the souls 

United in Ether, swell and move, 

In waves synchronous, each in tune 
220 And harmony with all of good 

Which ever can exist. 



67 



SCRIBE TO ETHER. 

I fail to comprehend the system thou dost outline, 
Here on this earth I am myself. I alone 
Control my thoughts and actions. 
I have my loves and my desires. My secret 
thoughts 
5 Are all my own. I have been taught 
There is a heaven beyond this life, 
Where angels dwell; where I shall meet 
With those I loved on earth; where a just God 
Sits on a seat of judgment. If I have 
10 His countersign, wherewith to pass the gates, 
I may forever dwell within the giant walls, 
Which do enclose the sanctified, leaving withou t 
All those who have not bowed unto the book, 
Which this great God hath written. 



69 



ETHER TO SCRIBE. 

Hast thou created God in thine own image ? 
Does Deity to thee appear a being huge, 
With arms like shipmasts, trunk as a temple, 
And limbs like sturdy columns? 
5 From out the cavernous mouth of such a God 
Dost thou hear thunderous and rolling tones 
Echoing damnation to such as doubt him? 
Ease thy frightened soul. Such a God exists 
In the imagination only. Not in heaven, 
1 Nor in the earth, nor in the bounds of space, 
Was e'er a God like this. 

Is heaven to thee, a place where thou shalt glide 
Clad in white robes, o'er jeweled pavements, 
Singing crude songs, and twanging jewsharps? 
1 5 Believe it if thou wilt. Such belief 

Harms not thy fellow man, nor yet thyself, 
Save as it dwarfs thy soul, to let such thoughts 
Lead thee astray from my appointed work. 

Art thou so much enamored of thyself 
20 That thou wouldst be forever what thou art, 

71 



And never change? Look to thy past career. 
Hast thou no shame for thy past deeds, 
For thoughts impure, and bent on vileness? 
Hast thou forgotten all the wrongs 

25 Wantonly bestowed by thee upon thy fellow men, 
Or on thy sister woman? Wasted time 
And wasted talents are the mildest tale 
Of thy offenses. Look within thy soul 
And honest answer make, unto thyself and me, 

30 If thou dost find thyself, in thine own strength, 
Fit company to be forever with thyself 
In loneliness. 

Friends of thy youth have passed, or soon will pass 
Beyond thy mortal vision, shouldst thou dwell 

35 A few brief years upon thy mother earth, 
Beyond the years already garnered in. 
Could my law, in thy behalf, be changed, 
And shouldst thou live upon the earth 
A further generation, thou wouldst grow 

40 To be a dominating power among thy fellows, 
Because of gathered wisdom. Love would die 
And all redeeming traits, leaving ambition only, 
To be the master passion of thy ripening years. 
Those about thee, having less years and knowledge 

45 Might bow before thee; little could they have 

72 



In common with thee; more and more 
To earth thou wouldst be drawn, and far from those 
Whom formerly thou lovedst, who now are joined 
With me in knowledge and in unison. 

50 Believe me, it is best for thee that thou shouldst pass 
Through the same gates thy youthful friends have 

passed, 
Into the life ethereal. Wouldst thou hold 
Thyself aloof from them? Wouldst thou not know 
What now they know, the knowledge gained 

55 Only by the translation which thou call'st death? 
Art thou more weak than they, or more deserving, 
That I should break a well established law 
Which leads all souls to Ether, and leave thee 

outcast 
And an immortal mortal? 

60 Thou mayst be sure the law Ether has made, 
Is best for thee and those like thee 
Who would find refuge with those dearly loved 
Who now are joined to Ether. 

Wouldst rather be a crystal drop in the pure ocean, 
65 Moving with tides, and sparkling in the sun, 
Lending thy weight to every moving wave, 
Feeling the proud pulsation of a living life, 

73 



And being part of ocean; or wouldst be 
As stagnant ooze, imprisoned in a hole 
70 Made by the hoof of beast? 

Thou art not ocean, and can never be 
But a small part of my vast entity, 
Yet still thou mayst become a noble part, 
A sweet and loving member of the mighty whole, 
75 Which constitutes the soul of Ether. 
Thou mayst become a sinew of strength 
In my entirety, and help, not hinder 
The everlasting progress which I have ordained, 
Leading to perfect love. 



74 



SCRIBE TO ETHER. 

Thou dost breathe thy thought to me in such a way 
That I do comprehend thee faintly. Yet I fain 

would know 
If that thou callest mind, and that thou namest soul, 
And that which I call thought, be not the same? 

ETHER TO SCRIBE. 

The same, yet not the same. Until thou art 

At one with me, partaking wave for wave 

Of my vibrations, thou canst but dimly see 

The light I fain would give thee. 

5 Thy mind is as the blossom, not the fruitage. 

Seest thou a noble tree in bloom ? What fairer is 

Upon thy circling earth? Yet the blossoms fall, 

And if unfructified, the beauty fades away, 

Leaving no fruit. But if each bloom be touched 

10 With that ennobling life spark which it needs, 

Brought by the breeze, by insect, or in other wise 

From other bloom, or other plant, as nature has 

required, 

75 



Then does the blossom swell into the fruit, 
Or drop away and leave the fruit exposed, 
1 5 To nurturing sunshine, dew, and kindly breeze. 

So is thy mind prepared to grow into a soul 
If thou wilt have it so. All thou dost need 
Is the desire to be in rhythm with me. 
If thou hast such desire, it first shall tend 

20 To make thee thoughtful of the debt thou owest 
To those who have preceded thee, leaving to thee 
The knowledge stored for thy instruction. 
Then shall grow upon thy mind, reaching toward 

soulful fruitage, 
A love toward all thy fellows, outgrowing thought 
of self. 

25 When thou hast gained such love, be sure thou hast 
A soul in harmony with Ether. 

When I shall call such soul to me, soon or late, 
It shall be ready to be joined with those 
Thy loved ones, and the glorified ye have admired, 
30 Of all preceding ages. More than this; 
I am composed of souls so pure, so bright, 
They would confound thee as the living light 
Would blind thine earthly eyes. Yet thou shalt be 
Equal with them, when thou art joined with me. 

76 



SCRIBE TO ETHER. 

Tell me then 

My duties to my God, and fellow men. 

ETHER TO SCRIBE. 

Thy God is Ether. That am I, 
No substance doth exist so dense, so firm, 
That I do not pervade it, as the water, sponge, 
Or as the atmosphere doth circulate within 
5 All built up cells of porous growth; 

So am I in all things, for I am everywhere. 

Thy thoughts are mine, save as thou dost, 
Lured by thy lower nature, let them droop 
To things beneath the proper dignity 
1 Of thy best higher life. If thou wilt have 
The best of life, even in thy little span 
Of years upon the earth, thou shalt direct 
Thy thoughts away from self, and up to me. 

Me thou canst never fully know, while weighted 

down 

77 



1 5 With the dull, stupefying clog of earthly things 
Of which thy finite body is composed. 
Thou canst behold me merely as a vision, 
Seen through a hazy mist. But as I am 
In every human life, as in thine own, 

20 The great controlling factor, thou canst know 
Of me, if thou wilt study me, 
As I do manifest myself within the souls 
Of these, thy brethren. 

There does not live upon thine earth, 

25 A man or woman sunk so low, 

That if thou wilt, thou mayst not find 

A spark of the ethereal buried in that form. 

If thou wilt give thine earthly life, to study one, 

Aye, even one, of these my children all about thee 

30 And lift him to the highest plane thy help can give, 
Thy life has been well spent. 
The more of any man which thou dost know 
By building up the soul of any man within him, 
The more of Ether, which is God, 

35 Shall enter in thy soul, and dwell w T ith thee. 
Even as thou dost teach thy pupil to absorb 
The better knowledge from the works of me 
Which all about you both are spread, 
So shall thy soul expanded be, and take 

78 



40 From my pervasive substance, that which brings 
To thee thy highest soul development. 

Be not exalted in thine own conceit, 
In that thou art thyself. Who made thee thus? 
Who placed thee here in thy environment? 
45 Who gave to thee the lore of years gone by? 
Who planted in thy growing soul, the power 
To add unto thy soul's development? 

Even shouldst thou forget the higher life, 
And reason of thy soul as mind alone, 

50 Deprived of moral nature, thou must know 
Thy mind was made not by thyself, but grew 
Into its present stature, from nourishment 
Drawn not from things within thee, but without 

thee 
In greatest measure. He who made 

55 The substance of all knowledge, unto him 
Thou shouldst due honor render, that thou art 
Possessed of faculty thou callest reason. 
If thou dost guide thy life by reason only, 
Thou shalt build up a living character, 

60 All planes and angles. As geometric forms 
Joined to each other, in mosaic outline make 
Which may be studied as a problem or a puzzle, 

79 



Yet want all soul of true artistic beauty; 

So may thy mind be built of all straight lines, 

65 And still be void of all which does make up a 
living soul. 
Forget thyself, and thou canst hardly fail 
Thy neighbour to remember. Do for him 
That which his need requires, and thou shalt find 
Instant and solid satisfaction in thy inmost thoughts, 

70 Voicing approval of thine action. Such return 
I give to thee at once, for thine encouragement. 
Take it then, as earnest of that rich reward 
Which I shall surely in due course mete out to thee, 
When thou shalt come to me, as is according to my 
plan, 

75 With thine and every human soul attuned to mine, 
Each holding for all others love as for himself. 
Such reinforcement of the power of Ether, 
Is part of the great purpose I have had 
From the beginning. 

80 Love of self, desire for quick enjoyment of the 
things, 
Which in my bounty I have spread about thee. 
This is the ballast which does weigh thee down 
And may engulf thee. Overcome it, then, 
If thou dost wish to build in thee a soul, 

80 



85 Which may unite with me, and be to me 
A help and not a hindrance. 

Seest thou the man bound up in self ? 
Who thinks the sun doth rise for him alone; 
Who chides the winds, and curses at the rain, 
90 For that it falls not at his beckoning, 

Or falls to his displeasure. All his thoughts 
He gives to that which may enlarge his wealth, 
Enhance his pleasures, or build up his fame? 
Dost think that man is happy? He may have 
95 Great store of goods, but seldom good digestion. 
Should he laugh, which he not often does, 
His laugh is mirthless, and turns into a sneer, 
At little provocation. Men to him 
May give their servile adulation, but not love. 

1 00 Women of wanton mind may smile at him, 

Smirking behind his back, when he doth turn 

away. 
That man has not a soul. He cannot come to me, 
Until he doth reform himself, and build a soul 
Upon the small foundation which he has 

1 05 So far neglected. 

The hardest task which I have given to thee, 
That thy refinement may be wrought by toil, 



Is to impress on such a selfish man, 

The error of his living. Thy first thought 

110 Is to condemn him utterly. Yet I tell thee, 
Look well within thyself, and see if thou, 
In like environment, might not be as he. 
Be sure thou hast cast out from thine own heart 
All thoughts, but longings for the common good 

115 Of all the human souls which Ether animates, 
And thou mayst hope to vivify the germ 
Which dwells within the mind of such a man, 
And help him to build up a soul within him; 
Which if thou dost, I surely shall requite to thee, 

120 In speedy recompense, by welcoming thy soul to 
mine. 

If thou shalt study me in all my works, 
Thou shalt assurance find, that in all things 
Which do exist (and solely by my will), 
I have implanted the necessity of progress, 

1 25 All change and progress tending back to me. 
Things thou dost call inert and inorganic, 
(Or mayhap that thou call'st them dead), 
Have not yet wakened, or have passed 
Through a brief cycle of development, 

1 30 And have not yet become attuned to me 
In my soul's highest attributes. 

82 



In my plan, each atom has the right 
To such development as may produce 
The highest impulse, and may become 

135 A living factor in the soul of Ether. 
Thou art what thou art, because I did 
At the beginning, implant in all that is 
The tendency to come to me. Thy best thought 
Already is attuned to mine. Thy worst 

140 Is from thy mother earth. She weighs thee down 
Because she still is young, and knows not me. 
Live thy best life, and at the end thereof 
Thou shalt be ready to come back to me. 
Fail in this, and mother earth 

145 Shall at thy death reclaim thee, till again 
Thou shalt in other form, and other life, 
Pass through the wondrous changes which take 

place 
In the great laboratory of nature. 

I would have thee come to me at once. 
1 50 My soul is pure, and has an avid longing 

For the addition to itself, of those pure souls, 

Which live in harmony with righteousness. 

Come to me because I need thee, as also thou 

Hast need of me. I am life itself. 
1 55 Come and thou shalt be a part of life eternal, 

83 



And take thy place in the celestial unison 
Which is the soul of Ether. 

When thou art joined to me, thou shalt inspire 
Throughout the vast extent of all that is 

160 And all that lies beyond, the vibrant impulses, 
Which lead to growth of soul. Thou shalt be 
In instant touch with all of life on earth, 
And all of life beyond the earth. Dost thou love 

light? 
Thou shalt radiate light throughout creation. 

1 65 Dost love music? Thy harmonies shall ring 
In all the living souls which do exist. 
Is love thy chief est attribute? Then shall all 

lovers 
In earth and heaven, receive from thee 
An added impulse of the highest love. 

1 70 When thou art part of me thy work is but begun 
For work is joy, and I am joy fulfilled. 

So thou dost fit thyself to bring to me, 
That which is best in thee, and is in rhythm 
With that which does inspire the good in souls, 
175 Thou shalt not long delay, but shall at once, 
Or soon, become of me a living part. 
But if thou shalt neglect thine opportunity, 

84 



Thou shalt return to earth, and I shall know thee 

not, 
As I have told thee, save in new development. 

180 Be but thy best, and thou shalt come and join 

Thy soul with all the souls thou hast admired, 

And all the souls which shall come after thee, 

Which thou shalt help me lift to nobler life. 

Then shall the sons of God, and sons of men, 
185 Joined all in Ether, which is God's development, 

Together act to build a higher life, and higher 
still 

In one eternal harmony of blended love, 

Which is God's highest attribute. 

Had a rock mind, it well might say, 
190 * 'Rather would I a boulder be, upon the shore 

Of mountain lake, or piled in cairn. 

So that I be myself alone, than be 

The finished pinnacle of high cathedral tower, 

Or from my vitals chiseled forth, have formed 
195 A column or a capital, to enter in 

As part of some vast structure." 

Such selfish thought 

Is of the stony nature mother earth 

Implants within the rocks. 
200 Ether brings to man a higher thought 

85 



A nobler aspiration, which leads the soul 
Touched with Ethereal life, to grow beyond 
The narrow limits found in self. 

Self is thy devil. Hell is made 
205 By worship of thyself. Men are Godlike 

Just as they have within their souls, 

The impulse (born of Ether), to desire 

The welfare of the souls of other men. 

Thus is he greatest of the race of men, 
2 1 Who most within himself doth cherish love of men. 

He who doth love, yearns to embrace the loved. 

Man's highest impulses, which bring his chiefest 
joys, 

Are those of deepest love for other souls. 

Joined by a common purpose, love of self 
215 Is often lost in wish for common good. 
So plays a team; so fights an army; 
Winning by blending the small atom, self, 
Into the great purpose of the common cause. 

Make then thy purpose love of man, which is 
220 My message to the sons of men. Casting out self 
Makes thee a unit with thy brother man. 

Fit thy soul to act with souls of other men, 
86 



And the great truth, that life is but of Me, 
And at the end must come to Me again, 
225 No more shall fright thee, but shall be a joy. 
Thou shalt rejoice to be a man no more, 
But to become a part of Ether, the Divine. 
When here thy task is ended. 



87 



ETHER TO LEGION. 

Ye sons of earth, arrayed in serried ranks, 
Armed with bright blades, or bearing strange 

machines, 
Which carry wounds and death unto your brethren, 
Can ye not think of that which must survive 
5 When ye have slain each other? 

At the first I was alone. Divesting me 

Of all which is not of the spirit, most divine, 

I did from the remainder then create 

The suns, and worlds, and beings on the worlds, 

10 Of which ye are examples. Unto you 
It has been given, by my express command, 
That having risen from substances you call 
Inert and inorganic, through the long 
And varied cycles which have gone before, 

1 5 You now have souls, or may have if ye will. 

The soul of Ether is the animating cause, 
Of all which does exist. All thought, 
All mind, all sense of right, 

89 



Originates within the great etheric soul, 
20 And vibrates through the vast imponderable void 
Which reaches to the limits of the limitless. 

Something ye know of those electric waves, 
Which being in unison with other waves of like 

comport, 
Do join with them, and onward circuit make. 
25 But if of unlike nature such waves are, 
They do pass by each other, mingling not, 
Or else repelling. Souls are of such vibrations. 

I would have you, on your finite minds such souls 
build up, 

That they should be at one with me, and tend 
30 To join me in the infinite, being to me, 

A quick addition to the utmost good, 

Which does in me exist. 

During your lives on earth, each one may have 

From me, if he will ask, such soul inspiring germ, 
35 That if developed, may a harvest bring, 

Back to its source in me, to my advancement. 

Why do ye then repel, and not attract 
The strong etheric forces, filling space? 
In which your circling car called earth, 

90 



40 Moves ever onward, passing you through me, 
And passing my divine omniscience through 

yourselves, 
So that ye each and all may take me in, 
In my infinity, if ye but so will. 

Your joinder in a body, acting in mass, 
45 Has taught you that when fired as one, 

Controlled in single movement by one thought, 
Your powers are not confined to mere addition 

one to one, 
But are as multiplied, each into all the others. 
When you have learned the lesson I would teach 
50 That all men are your brothers; that on earth 
He who would bring to me the best return 
For all the blessings I do thrust upon him, 
Is he who does his soul enlarge by love 
For all the creatures I have made, endowed with 
life, 
55 And with capacity to build up souls within them; 
Then will ye, when you do lay off 
The forms of matter, and report to me 
In spirit only, amplify my powers, 
And add to the divinity of Ether. 

60 You each now have it well within your power, 

91 



By casting out yourself, and taking up 

The other parts of me, which are your fellows, 

To so exalt and amplify yourselves 

That you may be at instant rhythm with me; 

65 And when you come to be a part of me, 
As you must do (or else go back to the inert, 
And all the journey upward take again, 
From clay to plant, from plant to beast, from 

beast to man, 
And try again to give yourself a soul), 

70 You shall become a strong and influential part 
In the great scheme which does control the suns, 
And cause the planets to move on their way, 
In order and in harmony, through endless space 
Which is my habitation. Ye may be 

75 A mighty factor in the Deity, if ye but so will. 

Acting together, your strength is multiplied. 
Can ye not learn to think together, so your thought 
Shall swell in volume, and become 
Ennobled and expanded? 

80 The binding cord is love. So that ye hold 
Each other to yourself by strong affection, 
Then shall ye organize your thoughts all unto me, 
Which thought shall be above your single thought 
As is your legion to a single man. 

92 



85 Make lovable your fellow man, and you shall 
love him, 
Leave him not alone, to do his own devices. 
Let your higher sympathies extend, each to the 

need of all, 
And all to each. Then shall your legion be 
A union of all men in one great soul, 
90 And all prepared to join the soul of Ether. 

The legion ye are minded to contend w r ith 

Is made of men such as ye are, or better, 

Or worse, as they have been developed by the 

force 
Of their surroundings. Upbraid them not, 
95 That they are not like-minded with yourselves. 
If ye have knowledge heretofore denied to them, 
Give knowledge unto them, so they be wise like 

you, 
And of like thought. Then will contention cease 
And war and strife be banished from the earth. 

100 Pride in yourselves is of your greater faults. 
Why are ye proud? What have ye done, 
In thought or deed, that deed or thought grew not 
From your descent and your surroundings? 
These others would have been much as yourselves, 

93 



105 Had they but had the like advantages. 

Because your fathers did more for you than did 

those 
Of your opponents, is the merit yours? Shame to 

you, 
If having such advancement, ye had not 
Made of yourselves a better race of men, 
110 Than other races ye look down upon. Doubly 

shamed 
Are ye, if ye press down, and lift not up, 
Those weaker races which ye view with scorn, 
Despite my teachings. 

When ye shall bring your legion to embrace 
1 1 5 All of the human kind. When ye shall raise 

Your weaker brethren to your plane, so ye can 
join 

All living men and women in a mighty army, 

Thinking and acting all in harmony as one, 

And all in union with the soul of Ether, 
1 20 Then shall my purpose be fulfilled. 

Then shall ye come to be at one with me, 

And form eternal part of Deity. 



94 



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